this is bbc news, the headlines... the us again vetoes a draught un security council resolution, blocking a demand for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in gaza. as international pressure mounts on israel to pause its offensive, the world health organization stages a second rescue mission from gaza's nasser hospital. farmers in poland protest against cheap ukrainian grain flooding the market and eu regulations on pesticide and fertiliser use. and see you later, alligator — a zoo exhibit heads off for surgery, after dozens of coins were found in his stomach.

we will have that very important story for you a little later. it was a central pillar of russian foreign policy — a mercenary company operating at arm's length, but directed by the kremlin. the wagner group and its notorious leader, yevgeniy prigozhin, had operations all over the world, but especially in africa. as russia's invasion of ukraine stalled, they were brought in to shore up the regular military — and it was here that things between prigozhin and the man for whom he had once cooked started to go wrong. he launched a short—lived and ill—fated coup before being forgiven then having a mysterious plane crash. the key question — what would happen to wagner after the death of yevgeniy prigozhin? well, now we know. joe inwood has more. this was the yevgeny prigozhin on his final tour of africa. a few weeks later, he would be dead. at the time, few doubted why the mutinous mercenary boss had been killed.

there was less certainty about what would happen to his wagner empire. now we know. so, there was a meeting in the kremlin fairly shortly after the mutiny. in which it was decided that wagner's africa operations would fall directly under the control of russian military intelligence, the giu. it was broken into two components, the volunteer corps fighting in ukraine. and the expeditionary corps, under the control of this man, general andrey averyanov. he was commander of the unit 29155, said to be behind the poisoning on the streets of salisbury. this is the man now running operations in africa. the question is, what are they up to? so, these are just some of internal russian documents that we have been given access to by our colleague from the bbc russian service. she has been taking me through them, these detailed what the russian

state can offer governments in west africa, taking up the role that was previously done by wagner. and offering them what they call a regime survival package. the regime survival package is how the russians are internally describing a group of capabilities that ranges from personal protection for leaders, information operations to boost their popularity domestically, a range of economic protections against western sanctions for how they might be behaving. and this provision of quite capable military forces to allow them to go after their internal opponents. in many ways this, new offer is a continuation of what wagner was doing before. exchanging those services for access to valuable minerals. there is also a renewed focus on trying to displace western interests. so, asymmetric warfare is very important to the russians who don't have really the conventional forces

that can ever defeat the west. and so they are looking at ways in which they can use social media, the politics, internal political divisions in western societies as a means of creating unrest and weakness on the part of the west. diverting the west away from what the russians are doing on the battlefields of ukraine and elsewhere. this was the way the death of yevgeny prigozhin was marked in the central african republic. military honours and a monument to russian soldiers. we now know his death, however it was received, was not to signal the end of his operations in africa. joe inwood, bbc news. so what are the implications? for more on this, i spoke to dr samuel ramani — associate fellow at the royal united services institutes, and author of russia in africa. so they had close connections

to the kremlin and, as time went on, at least after the ukraine war began and wagner forces began to be redirected to the ukrainian front, wagner as getting a lot of state support. —— wagner was getting. so they were never truly autonomous — they were, as kimberly martin, the columbia university professor, accurately called them, a "semi—state security company at most." yes, and whilst we will refer to them and see some of their military operations, there was also a role for wagner, wasn't there, ofjust creating unrest, spread nervousness, fear, allegations that it wants to prompt social unrest in europe because of moving migrants around. i mean, how much can we read into these claims? so, wagner obviously was a complicated entity, in terms of what its responsibilities were. yes, it was actively involved in ratcheting up hybrid threats towards europe on the migrant issue, also in terms of rallying anti—french and anti—western sentiments by fanning the flames of anti—colonialism, and presenting themselves as liberators of countries and french colonialism — we saw that in niger this summer, for example. but also, they were quite

involved as an instrument of russian power projection, too, by providing a network of autocracies and warlords that russia could prop up and secure minerals from. so they were both involved in hybrid contracts and in power projection. let's get more on this story. with me is edwige sorgho, political analyst and founding partner at amber advisers. thank you for being with us. a lot of people have become aware of wagner, given their presence in ukraine and the conflict there. many may be surprised by those links with africa— maybejust may be surprised by those links with africa— maybe just explain those long—standing links, but important links? long-standing links, but important links? , ., ., links? very important, and the links no wa links? very important, and the links go way back— links? very important, and the links go way back to _ links? very important, and the links go way back to the _ links? very important, and the links go way back to the mid-19 - links? very important, and the links go way back to the mid-19 80s, - links? very important, and the links go way back to the mid-19 80s, the| go way back to the mid—i9 80s, the links between russia and many african countries during the cold war. so russia is revisiting places where it's been before. and when we talk about wagner, the central

conflict was in the central african republic where wagner started operating back in 2018—17, there are what is the purpose of these links? because it goes beyond just commercial interests, doesn't it? it started as military support, rather than commercial contacts with these countries. one has to bear in mind that in many african countries, there are issues with rebellion and rebellions, and issues with terrorists in west africa in particular. so the initial contact was about providing military support to the armies in these countries. there's also an element in this too about creating a dependent ally,

about creating a dependent ally, about russia saying to parts of africa," we need each other, you need us, and therefore in whatever you do, you have to support us." it's about creating an addiction, creating that economic dependence. it's interesting when you travel to these parts of the world, what people have —— what vision people have of this new relationship. because they do firmly believe there is a win—win connection to make with russia. it's a kind of defiance towards former partners from the western world, to tell them, "look, we can go to russia, we have to renegotiate the terms of our negotiation with you. find renegotiate the terms of our negotiation with you. and we heard that they are _ negotiation with you. and we heard that they are in _ negotiation with you. and we heard that they are in joe's _ negotiation with you. and we heard that they are in joe's report, - negotiation with you. and we heard that they are in joe's report, some | that they are injoe's report, some would say it's about disrupting western alliances too, displacing some of those western organisations that have been so prevalent in those countries. perhaps as you say, it's a way of saying, "our alliances are

elsewhere and we don't need you as much as we did in the past," but it's also about a fire back — russia is firing at the west, and if they can dislodge some of those allies in africa? it can dislodge some of those allies in africa? , ., , ._ , africa? it is worrying may be the --rosect africa? it is worrying may be the prosraect that — africa? it is worrying may be the prospect that this _ africa? it is worrying may be the prospect that this might - africa? it is worrying may be the prospect that this might become africa? it is worrying may be the - prospect that this might become some kind of confrontation between the countries which are still connected to the western world, and the pro—russian countries. there are a lot of tensions at the moment between the two camps in west africa. �* , . , between the two camps in west africa. �*, ., , ., ., africa. it's really fascinating to hear how this _ africa. it's really fascinating to hear how this all _ africa. it's really fascinating to hear how this all works, - africa. it's really fascinating to hear how this all works, and i africa. it's really fascinating to - hear how this all works, and insight that we didn't have before hand. thank you for being with us. thank ou. here in the uk, an "unprecedented" number of women are being investigated by police on suspicion of illegally ending their pregnancy — that's according to two

of britain's biggest abortion providers. the bbc has found evidence that women who have had natural pregnancy losses have also come under investigation, suspected of having an illegal abortion. divya talwar reports. sammy was seven months pregnant when she says she started feeling unwell. i had a bit of back ache. i think i'm having the baby. and then, not even 10—15 minutes later, he's here. he was blue, he was lifeless. the paramedic on the phone talked me through cpr. sammy and her baby were taken to hospital. she says the next thing she remembers is the police arresting her husband. both of them are placed under investigation, suspected of trying to illegally end the pregnancy. we were just treated like criminals from the get go, really. when she found out she was pregnant, sammy says she had initially wanted a termination. abortion is legal in britain before 2a weeks of pregnancy. sammy thought she was well within the legal limit, but says staff at the abortion clinic told her she

was over the cut—off. i broke down. i couldn't believe i was, well, near enough 26. sammy says she was honest with police and hospital staff about wanting an abortion, even told them that she looked for pills but never bought or took them. but after the premature delivery, police suspected an illegal abortion may have been attempted. though her baby survived, she's faced a year—long investigation. my mental health, obviously, that's declined in the last year. abortion providers say that since 2020, a growing number of women are facing criminal investigations on suspicion of illegally ending a pregnancy. we're probably talking about 50 to 60 who are falling under active criminal investigation, but that compares to pretty well zero before 2018. they want to see abortion fully decriminalised. there's fierce opposition to that. i think that if you don't

have the possibility - of prosecution and if you don't have the possibility _ of some sort of sentence, _ then you're in danger of having more of these cases and not fewer. we do need a deterrent. sammy recently received a call from police, who told her the investigation had been dropped. the force who handled her case told us that a thorough investigation was necessary to safeguard all involved. they said no further action would be taken against sammy nor her partner. ijust burst out into tears. i couldn't believe what i was hearing after all these months, all these weeks of not knowing. i wouldn't wish it upon anybody. divya talwar, bbc news. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. bbc news — bringing you different stories from across the uk. alexandra moved into her parents�* former home in saint day a year ago. in that year, it's been damaged

by vehicles four times. and this is the damage from the most recent — and i've just had this house completely refurbished. and this is what happened. three of those times, she says, it's been buses reversing into the bollard her mum had installed 15 years ago — because the house kept being damaged even then. so i'm in a constant anxiety state, i'm constantlyjust sitting there, waiting for it to happen again. i can't relax. neighbours we spoke to say they saw this recent damage happening when a bus backed up to trying get round the corner. go cornwall bus have said they could find no evidence of this from their cctv. cornwall council told us it's open to discussing any potential practical solutions beyond the measures that are already in place here. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. you're live with bbc news. the prime minister has promised help for british farmers, including money for new agricultural technology.

rishi sunak has addressed the national farmers' union annual conference in birmingham — the first prime minister to do so in 15 years. here's our environment correspondentjonah fisher. in the fields and on the farms, all is not well. we're the end of the line in this fun. —— in this farm. our kids don't want to take it on. liz webster has 350 cows, and says a combination of factors including brexit, rising costs, and unpredictable weather has left many farmers like herself at their wits�* end. are you still making a profit? is it still profitable to be a farmer? no! so why are you doing it? i don't know! because it's a way of life. sometime in the next 12 months, there's going to be a general election. what farmers are hoping is that their concerns about, among other things, food security, prices and the environment will be key topics which politicians will have to address when they hit the campaign trail.

and so it was that rishi sunak came to birmingham this morning to speak to the annual conference of the national farmers' union. this is the first time that a prime minister has come to this event since gordon brown. that's all the way back in 2008. i know that the transition from the common agricultural policy has been frustrating. it's taken time, and i appreciate the perception that we didn't always get the balance exactly right. but i still believe that the vision is the right one. there was no new money, but he announced support for innovation and technology, and move to make the contract between farmers and supermarkets or transparent. —— more transparent. food security will also now be monitored every year. the prime minister really is tinkering around the edges after his government has wrecked british farming. they put up barriers to

trade that's blocked farmers exporting into the european markets when they were promised continuing access, and they let energy prices run out of control. it’s access, and they let energy prices run out of control.— run out of control. it's not “ust here that fl run out of control. it's not “ust here that farmers i run out of control. it's not “ust here that farmers are i run out of control. it's notjustj here that farmers are unhappy run out of control. it's notjust - here that farmers are unhappy - the last few weeks here that farmers are unhappy — the last few weeks have seen protests across europe. how food gets to your dinner table is a very hot topic. jonah fisher, bbc news. it's been a season of discontent for farmers around the world — with thousands staging demonstrations in countries including the czech republic, poland, and india — and with more expected. well, the reasons for the revolts are different and unique to each country, but they are united in their frustration. meghan owen has more. we're only a few weeks into 2024, and yet we've seen farmers from all over the world turn out to protest — from quiet fields to busy city streets. and the scenes have been pretty dramatic. we've seen fires outside the eu headquarters in brussels,

main routes into paris blocked... ..tear gas fired at protesters in india, and even cows brought to the pope's prayers at the vatican. most of this yea r�*s protests have been concentrated in europe and india. but why have the farmers been protesting? of it see the farmers in each country do have their reasons for protesting. but the complaints are wide—ranging — from carbon—cutting targets, fuel prices, inflation, bureaucracy, and ukrainian grain imports. so let's hear from some of those farmers themselves. translation: we're constantly hit with restrictions _ regarding ecology — restrictions that we have to meet. translation: our lands are gone, our rights are gone. _ they do not give us the rights, even when we demand them. translation: the issue i face is excessive bureaucracy. - i have to fill in - forms all the time. and there are more protests to come. here, we see indian farmers bringing in cranes and diggers ahead of another march to the capital.

spanish farmers are also protesting on wednesday. all in the hope that, in such a fast—moving world, they won't be left behind. now this is my favourite story of the day, but something quite different. an alligator at a us zoo had to have surgery after veterinarians found 70 coins in its stomach. the coins were in a rare, 36—year—old leucistic alligator, which has translucent white skin and blue eyes. the henry doorly zoo and aquarium, in nebraska said patrons threw coins into the enclosure, which were eaten by the alligator between cleanings. he has recovered from the procedure and is back in his enclosure. earlier i spoke to taylor yaw, director of animal health at henry doorly zoo, who explained how the procedure went. of all the things you expect to have to deal with when you have

we work really closely with our professional animal care team. we're always having conversations as veterinarians that are our eyes and ears when when they see something in the habitat or with our animals. and the aquariums and keepers in that area had noticed some coins in the habitat — we had no suspicion that an animal had eaten them, but we went ahead — as part of our preventative health programme — the keepers were able to train our alligators to be able to get radiographs or x—rays so we could actually see, and once we found that out, we pursued this procedure to remove the coins. of all the things you expect to have to deal with, when you have alligators, was this one of them? that's a great question. ourjob as zoo veterinarians is so diverse, we can go from elephant medicine to helping a penguin, orjumping taxonomic groups. so this was actually a rather weird call to start this procedure. and tell me about the procedure — how would you get them out?

yeah, so it took a village to get the coins out. we started several weeks in advance getting the x—rays under voluntary behaviour, with the gators and their keepers. and so, once we obtained those, we started planning, wanting to make sure we had the right equipment, the right people at this procedure. so we had multiple veterinarians overseeing the anaesthetic event, just to make sure that he was breathing, his heart rate, his metabolic needs, everything was being met during that procedure. and then, the veterinarians were able to use an endoscope to go down into his stomach to see the coins, visualise them, just make sure they were in the place where we thought they were at. and then, they used a surgical procedure called a gastric lavage to basically go in and flush those coins out of the stomach. of all the things and alligator handler has to worry about, that would not normally be at the top. now any wine lovers out

there, look away now. a spanish winery has lost the equivalent of 80,000 bottles of its high—end red wine after someone broke in and emptied their vats. a spokesman for cepa 21 said the 60,000 litres of horcajo and malabrigo was worth about $2.7 million. you watching bbc news. robin windsor, a former professional on strictly come dancing, has died aged 1m. he appeared on the bbc one show from 2010 until 2013. lizo mzimba looks back at his life. the former dance champion joined the strictly family in 2010. robin windsor. applause and, together with his first dance partner, patsy kensit, he salsad and sambad his way into the hearts of millions of viewers. taking part in strictly to me is the bestjob in the world. there are two things that i love to do and they are perform and to teach.

and i think this is the onlyjob in the world where i actually get to do both of the things i love at the same time. over the next three years, he was partnered with former eastenders star anita dobson. # bring me sunshine.... ..emmerdale actress lisa riley, who he reached the semifinal with... ..and dragons den star deborah meaden. members of the strictlyjudging panel, past and present, have been paying tribute. craig revel horwood said he was one of the kindest, gentle, honest, funny and caring people i've had the pleasure of knowing and working with. bruno tonioli said, it was a pleasure working with robin for many years at strictly. so professional, easygoing, a really good person. and speaking earlier on morning live, arlene phillips also shared her memories of him.

he was sweet and kind and there was something so lovely about him. passionate, driven. and i am devastated. he'll be very, very, very, very much missed. his cause of death hasn't been confirmed, but millions have been remembering a man whose talent was admired by so many. robin winsor, who's died at the age of 1m. the home secretary, james cleverly, has sacked the chief inspector of borders and immigration, david neal, after details of a report criticising the immigration system appeared in newspapers. a spokesperson said mr neal had breached the terms of appointment and lost the confidence of the home secretary. with more on this, our political

correspondent ellie price. so what's going on here? it's another embarrassing day for the government, isn't it? it’s another embarrassing day for the government, isn't it?— government, isn't it? it's been a bit awkward, _ government, isn't it? it's been a bit awkward, it's _ government, isn't it? it's been a bit awkward, it's a _ government, isn't it? it's been a bit awkward, it's a simple - government, isn't it? it's been a bit awkward, it's a simple way i government, isn't it? it's been aj bit awkward, it's a simple way of putting it. david diehl was due to finish his role as a cheap inspector of borders and immigration at the end of march, it turns out that's happened quite quicker and he's been fired as of today. that's due to a couple of newspaper articles that have come out over the last couple days and weeks, and months in fact of which david neal was the source — so there was one in the times on monday that talked about problems with care workers visas, another one in the mail which talked about problems at city airport in which private jets weren't necessarily checked, and essentially border controls weren't put in place. now the home office has denied any problems or wrongdoing on any of those, saying it was basically very disappointed that david neal chose to give those stories to the newspaper. i think that's exactly what's behind it. labour tonight

have of course wanted to make some political gain in all of this and talked about tory chaos when it comes to immigration — as i say, the conservatives themselves say he has been fired, they are trying to recruit someone else in his place, but it's not exactly a good day for immigration policy of the government's once again. thank you for that update. _ government's once again. thank you for that update, ellie. _ showing you some pretty incredible pictures, a spectacular meteor above the sky in lincolnshire yesterday afternoon, take a look at these. it was caught on a number of dash cams and ring door bells as it passed overhead. a meteor is a piece of space debris that burns up as it enters the earth's atmosphere — creating that famous �*shooting star�* effect.

glorious to see. the context is up next, don't go anywhere but i'll see you very soon. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. the next couple of days look pretty unsettled. we'll see two areas of low pressure moving in. bringing wet and windy weather to our shores. could see some issues with localised flooding in places as the ground is already so saturated. but one thing noticeable for the next few days, despite the wind and the rain, it will stay very mild before things turn colder from thursday onwards. now through tonight, that wet, windy, milderweather spreads its way northwards. but initially ahead of that rain, it will turn quite cold across some northern and eastern areas. a touch frost perhaps for northeast scotland, but temperatures recovering — nine or ten degrees across southern and western areas by the end of the night. and here it is, this area of low pressure, a fairly deep feature with quite a few isobars on the chart indicating windy weather with gales certainly around coasts of irish sea coasts, northern and eastern parts of scotland could see the strongest gusts. the rain splashing its way eastward through the morning.

into the afternoon, starts to push out into the north sea. skies brighten up behind it, but it does remain blustery for all areas. some showers running into northern and western scotland. but it might hang back, i think across eastern england with regards to the cloud and the rain. but these temperatures again above the seasonal norm, 11 to 13 celsius. as we head through wednesday night, it's dry for a time. then we see another area of low pressure gathering force out west that will bring a band of showery rain into northern and western areas. that rain starts to pep up, begins to cross england and wales. again, a fairly mild night to come across the south, something a bit cooler working its way into northern and western areas. that's a sign of things to come as we head through thursday, as this low pressure system, with its heavy rain and strong winds across the south, spreads across the country and pushes on in towards the north sea, starts to open the floodgates to a much colder west northwest. that's when you can see that's evident here with the blue colours, not particularly very cold, but certainly colder than what we've had over the last week or so. so a rather unsettled,

wet day to come, i think, for much of the country, certainly england and wales on thursday, windy in the south. as the rain pulls away, the colder air starts to move in. so those showers begin to turn wintry over the higher ground of northern and western hills. and notice the temperatures as well. it will be noticeable. five to nine degrees factor in the wind. it'll feel colder than that. it stays fairly unsettled into the weekend. sunshine and showers again, these wintry over northern and western hills and nights will be turning colder with some frost.

hello, i'm christian fraser. this is the context. menting and immediate, unconditional cease—fire without an agreement requiring hamas to release the hostages will not bring about peace. we are calling for a stop to the fighting — we are calling for a stop to the fighting right now. we think what we need is _ fighting right now. we think what we need is a _ fighting right now. we think what we need is a pause in the fighting in the hostages to come out and aides to go— the hostages to come out and aides to go in _ the hostages to come out and aides to go in i_ the hostages to come out and aides to go in. i should have been straight _ to go in. i should have been straight away. this is the worst situation i have seen _ this is the worst situation i have seen in — this is the worst situation i have seen in my— this is the worst situation i have seen in my life _ this is the worst situation i have seen in my life. working in - this is the worst situation i have seen in my life. working in the i seen in my life. working in the darkness, _ seen in my life. working in the darkness, everywhere. - seen in my life. working in the darkness, everywhere.- seen in my life. working in the darkness, everywhere. we've heard from accounts _ darkness, everywhere. we've heard from accounts from _ darkness, everywhere. we've heard from accounts from numerous - darkness, everywhere. we've heard - from accounts from numerous members saying they are suffering. intolerable, unbearable, and they think there's real urgency call for a cease—fire.